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The Battle Within

A couple of days ago we saw a huge selection of colorful dresses at a local children’s clothing store. I saw a beautiful yellow one, a bright green one, and one with polka dots that I really wanted her to get. As we walked up to the display I asked Cora which dress she would like.

“The pink one,” was her prompt reply.

Of course. I probably shouldn’t have even asked. This daughter that God has given me is the girliest-girl I’ve ever seen. She prances around in high heels, wearing her “married” dress, dripping with costume jewelry, and slathering on the “lipstick” (a.k.a. “chapstick”). Her favorite game is to play “mom” and she has recently discovered a new friend — Barbie.

When I found out that I was pregnant with a girl I decided that I wasn’t going to fall into the trap of dressing her all in pink. I purposely chose purple, yellow, green, and white clothes for her. I bought non-pink receiving blankets and nursery décor. I have never been that much of a girly-girl; I tend to fall somewhere in that middle ground between tomboy and beauty queen. But nature took over and I ended up with a pink-loving, baby-doll carrying, high-heel wearing princess.

So which is stronger: Nature or nurture?

Usually people equate this question to child development. Do little girls play with dolls instead of trucks because that’s their nature or because they’ve been conditioned that way? Do boys like to slam each other into the carpet in a winner-take-all wrestling battle because their dads make them or because they naturally feel that competitiveness within them?

However, is there another side to the question?

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Today I’m posting at Ungrind.org about a different kind of nature vs. nurture debate.